We recently connected with Rachel Calabrese and have shared our conversation below.

Rachel , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I was working as a Recreation Coordinator for my town and volunteering as a soccer coach for my oldest daughter’s team. In both situations, I learned of children who could not attend activities/ sports due to lack of funds to pay for the programs. My own children were playing soccer, volleyball and football. These activities are where they met their friends and grew in confidence and skills. What if, in this pay-to-play world, a family could not afford this? On how many levels does that impact a child in today’s world?

I quit my job in 2017 and started ConfiKids (building CONFIdence in kids) with several friends I had met working for a nonprofit organization years before. We hosted our first fundraiser that spring and started funding children towards the end of the year. We created our first website and started having families apply for funding that fall. The first full year of giving awards (2018) , we funded 100 children with $42,000. This year, we are on track to fund 435 kids with $195,000.

We are constantly hearing feedback on the positive impact we have made in the lives of these children. Now, eight years later, we are relentless in our pursuit to help more kids.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Once my children were born, I resigned from my job as an account executive in the advertising world. I stayed home with my three kids and started to volunteer with different organizations, their schools and activities.

I worked with the homeless population but it was not until I worked in Recreation in my town did I realize there was a lot of families who were struggling in my own community. I always loved to plan events and fundraise so I decided I could help some families be able to afford sports, arts and enrichment programs in a creative way.

We started our organization with six board members and myself. We started to fundraise to help kids in our local area.
Once people started to learn about us the demand grew. We now open our quarters with a budgeted amount and need to shut down our application process when funds run out – which is usually within three weeks lately. There are so many more kids to help, so we continue to seek out new donors, sponsors and diversify our funding.

I wrote a children’s book (the first of a series) that was published this year. Sammy Starts Soccer is a great story about learning how to be part of a team. The proceeds from this book benefit our organization.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I have just started working with an Executive Director Coach and learning how to manage my team more efficiently. But one of the BEST elements of this organization (aside from the positive impact we have had on children) is our team. WE HAVE AN EXTRAORDINARY TEAM of volunteers.

From our board to volunteer staff members, committee members, runners, riders (two huge efforts we participate in are the Falmouth Road Race and Rodman Ride for Kids) – they are amazing. This community is the most positive, uplifting, giving and relentless in their pursuit to help kids.

Every event we host, people comment about wanting to be a part of our community. They simply love our team! I think the collection of amazing folks, the creativity we encourage and the fact that every one feels heard paired with our mission keeps our team motivated through the years.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I once loved reading books. These days, the minute I stop working and sit to read… I fall asleep!

However, an amazing resource for me has been connecting with other nonprofit organization leaders. Whether it is a meeting at the Rodman for Kids office (where 41 nonprofit organizations share their prospectives, suggestions, challenges and successes regularly) or being part of the Nonprofit leadership Lab, I constantly receive support and needed advice.

Our team is wonderful. However, being the leader sometimes is lonely and you feel lost at times. Having other entrepreneurial minds around you to share your successes and, even more importantly, share your struggles and get advice, is essential! This connection is a resource that I depend on to keep striving and building our organization.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://confikids.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/confikids.ma/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConfiKids
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/confikids/

Image Credits

My head shot – photo credit Stephanie Flaherty Photography,